So it’s time to pack your belongings and move to a new home. To make moving as stress-free as possible and get things in order in your new home in the shortest time possible, it’s a good idea to declutter your things - ideally, before the end of tenancy cleaning. That way you will make it a lot easier on the cleaners to return the property to the condition before the start of tenancy. Obviously, it is very difficult to clean when the place is cluttered. You, on the other hand, will have the piece of mind that nothing important has been left behind. In addition, you will keep the clutter out of your new home, at least for some time.

To make decluttering easier, simpler and faster, you are recommended to follow the simple tips below:

Organise

Make a plan where you will start and move to the next room (or piece of furniture) only after the one you are sorting out is fully decluttered. If you don’t do one room at a time, you will create even more mess and make decluttering even more difficult and time-consuming.

Sort your things immediately

To declutter effectively, sort your things in at least three boxes with the following labels - yes, no and maybe. And be sure to resist the temptation to put too much things into the “maybe box”. Instead, consider following the so-called six-months rule: If you haven’t needed the thing for at least six months, you probably don’t really need it.

Sell, donate, recycle

Just because you don’t want or need a particular thing anymore, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s worthless. On the contrary, most things have some value to someone. So instead of simply throwing unwanted things away, you should consider sorting them further and try to sell, donate or/and recycle.

Label the boxes carefully

The more details the labels contain, the better. Even though you may feel it’s a waste of time, labelling the boxes’ content will save you a huge amount of time when unpacking because you will know exactly where to look for particular items.

Set realistic goals

The amount of time you will need to declutter depends greatly on how much things you have to go through. But if you want to sort through your things effectively, don’t expect to be done in a few hours. Decluttering unfortunately tends to be a very time-consuming task, so be sure to set realistic goals and stick to your plan. If you by any chance don’t succeed with decluttering by the time of end of tenancy cleaning, it’s a lot better if you are left with one or even two rooms than a little bit of everything all over the place. Also, the cleaners will highly appreciate if the property is at least mostly empty.